![]() 2012 first edition hardcover
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Author | Ping Fu, MeiMei Fox |
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Subject | Memoir |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Portfolio Hardcover |
Published in English
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December 31, 2012 |
Pages | 288 pages |
ISBN |
Bend, Not Break: A Life in Two Worlds is a 2012 memoir by Ping Fu, with co-author MeiMei Fox. The book tells stories from Fu's life, starting with her childhood in China at the dawn of the Cultural Revolution, and continuing through her role as co-founder and CEO of Geomagic, a 3D graphics software development company in the United States. The book was first published in English on December 31, 2012 through Portfolio Hardcover.
Several weeks after publication, the book became the focus of controversy over claims by Chinese bloggers, and commenters from both China and America, that Fu had exaggerated or falsified some of the stories from her life in China. Fu has denied falsifying her stories, but has acknowledged some errors in the book, and has committed to correcting them in the next printing.
The book narrates the life of Ping Fu, a computer scientist from China. Fu spent her early years caring for her younger sister after her parents were taken away for re-education through labor, as well as working in factories and spending time in the military. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Fu attended Suzhou Teacher's College, where she's later deported to the United States for the contents of her thesis. Once in America, Fu worked her way through college in a variety of jobs and eventually gained a BA in Computer Science & Economics through the University of California, San Diego. From there she worked for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and later formed Geomagic.
Critical reception for Bend, Not Break was initially positive, with the Christian Science Monitor calling it an "inspiring and energetic tale of how a scared little girl learned to draw down hard on her inner resources and build on every small kindness that came her way". The book has garnered positive reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Oprah.com, with the Oprah.com reviewer stating that it was "devastating and transformative". A journalist for the China Daily heavily criticized the book, commenting that "The book may have its truthful elements, but to most Chinese readers it seems that the majority of the facts have been bent too much to be believable."